Creating a SPIRE logon account and company registration

CONTENTS

1. INTRO 2

2. WHO SHOULD REGISTER 2

3. CREATE A SPIRE LOGON ACCOUNT 3

4. CREATE A REGISTRATION FOR YOUR COMPANY 5 □ Overview of SPIRE System Level Access 14

5. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT 19

6. COMPANY SCENARIOS 20 □ Company set-up 1 20 □ Company set-up 2 20 □ Company set-up 3 20 □ Company set-up 4 21 □ Company set-up 5 21 □ Consultants (or equivalent) 22

7. Intro

SPIRE is the Export Control Organisation (ECO) export licensing database. You should use this online system to register for Open General Licences or apply for export or trade licences issued by the ECO. SPIRE is accessible at https://www.spire.bis.gov.uk and also via the Businesslink website at http://www.businesslink.gov.uk

This document is intended to guide users through the process of creating a SPIRE logon account and registering their company on SPIRE.

Please read through this document in full before starting to create an account or a registration as there may be aspects of the process that you have not considered. (For example, you should be aware that you need to be the right person to create the SPIRE registration for your company).

If you are going to be using SPIRE on behalf of a company, you have the ability to create a company registration. There are several benefits to using this facility.

- You will be able to add users with different levels of access to SPIRE.
- It will save time when completing applications as information can be automatically loaded from the registration details.
- You can prevent others from applying for licences using your company details.
- Applications can be shared with others from your company who are also users on SPIRE to allow holiday cover, etc.

2. Who should register

The SPIRE system works on the basis of one SPIRE registration per Companies House registration number.

If you have multiple users who want access to SPIRE within an organisation, you will need to decide whom within the company should initiate the registration. You should note that companies can list all sites using the one Companies House registered number on the SPIRE registration and can nominate different users for all sites.

The creation of a SPIRE registration is a decision that each company needs to make and will depend on the set up of your company. It is not compulsory for any company to create a SPIRE registration although we do recommend it as it will give control over who applies for applications on behalf of your company and also gives visibility to users over what applications are being created and processed. 3. Create a SPIRE logon account

- Go to https://www.spire.bis.gov.uk and select ‘Account Registration’.

- The page will refresh and you will see a registration screen, as below

- Enter relevant details in all fields. (All fields are mandatory). Enter the digits displayed in the security image. This shows a 7 digit code that you have to type into the field below and protects against automatic registration.

Once you have completed all fields and confirmed the security image code, you can select to ‘Register’.

You will then be sent an e-mail containing an automatically generated password.

Once you have received this, go to the SPIRE web address again – https://www.spire.bis.gov.uk and enter your e-mail address into the existing users field, then enter the password sent to you by e-mail and click on ‘Login’.

You will then be prompted to enter this password again and then choose a new password (it should be at least 8 characters long and needs to include at least 1 number; also make sure it is easy to remember). You will need to re-enter your chosen password and then answer your security question that you have chosen.

Click on ‘Login’

Provided all the details are accurate, you will then be logged into SPIRE and you will be taken to your workbasket where you will see a welcome message. This message contains information about the layout of SPIRE and common processes which we hope will make using the system easier for you. If you delete this message, you will be able to access the information through the ‘Help’ link in the left hand side banner. 4. Create a registration for your company

Please note that the creation of a company registration involves a letter being sent from ECO to the Company Secretary (or equivalent) who needs to sign a declaration and return it to us before the registration will be activated. This letter will be sent to the Companies House registered address for your company.

- Click on the ‘Manage my Registration’ link. This is found on the left hand side of the screen. You will then get a message stating that you have not yet made any registrations, but pointing you towards the ‘New Registration’ link on the left hand side. Click on this link to start the registration process.

You will then come to the SPIRE Registration screen. You should enter your Companies House Registration Number in the white box and then click on the ‘find Company’ link. This will activate a link to the Companies House website and your official details will be located and entered. You will have to then complete any fields that are not automatically completed.

- Alternatively, if your details are not generated by this search, you can always enter your organisation details manually by selecting the option to ‘enter organisation details’ yourself.
- Please double check the details that you enter here before going to the next screen.
- Entering your organisation details is the first of 4 steps which will allow you to create your registration. The tabs for these steps can be seen across the top of the screen. The tabs are Organisation Details, Sites, Security and Submit.

Tab 1 is for Organisation Details. You will then need to enter details about your company, including your formal address, your VAT number, your EORI number, nature of business, etc. You will also be asked to provide details of the overseas registry name and company registration number if applicable.

You should note that some fields are mandatory (including address and nature of business fields). Mandatory fields are indicated by a \*. If you fail to complete a mandatory field before moving to the next screen you will receive an error prompt to indicate which fields you need to complete.

To enter an address, you should click on ‘Select Address’. You will then be taken to a new screen which contains a postcode search facility. Enter in your postcode and click on ‘Search’. The addresses contained within that postcode will then be displayed.

You should select your address from the available options. If your address is not displayed, you can use the ‘Advanced Search’ or ‘Add a new address’ options. The ‘Advanced Search’ allows you to search a company name, house number, street, town or city. For the ‘Add a new address’ option, you will simply see a screen where you can manually enter the address details. Once this has been done, click on ‘Accept’. Take care to double check all the details of the address you have entered as once you accept them, they will appear in the ‘Organisation Details’ screen and if you have made a mistake, you will need to re-enter all the details again. If you have made an error, click on the ‘Change Address’ link to go through the process again.

- When you have added all the relevant details, select next. If you click on ‘Save and Exit’, you will be taken to a ‘Manage Registrations’ screen. This will show you a list of all your registrations. By clicking on the appropriate option, you can either:
  - Resume entering relevant details
  - View the registration
  - Cancel the registration

If you click ‘Save and Exit’ at any point during the registration process, you will be taken to this screen and all the information you have entered to date will have been saved. Part 2 of the process is setting up sites. A company can operate from a number of sites. This screen will allow you to enter the details of these sites within your registration. You don’t have to add all your sites at this stage, you can add more later; but you will have to add at least one to proceed to the next step.

On screen you have two options:

- If you operate out of one premises, you should select the ‘Create site from previous page’ option and add a department/division name (for example, this may be ‘Commercial Department’ or ‘Shipping Department’ – whichever is a relevant title for the area of the company that is responsible for export controls).

- If your main site is not the same as the one entered on the previous screen, select ‘Add new site’. You will then be taken to the address search screens (shown above) and you can enter the details of the site. You can enter as many sites as you wish to.

If you have an EORI number for each site, you should enter it on this screen. An EORI number is a ‘Economic Operator Registration and Identification’ number. For more details see the Businesslink website.

You should also indicate the ‘occupancy status’ of each site. If you do not currently export from a certain site, you can set the status to ‘Suspended’. If at some point, you need to export from that site, you will just need to amend this status in order to complete an application for that site, rather than creating a site at that time. Click on ‘Next’ to go to the next part of the process. Part 3 is the stage when you define user access. You can do the following:

- set up different levels of access for different users.
- assign users to the organisation (which will allow them the level of access assigned for all sites in the organisation) or to individual sites.

It is at this stage that you can set up the registration according to the way your company operates. To better understand this process, several business set-up scenarios have been described at the end of this document to reflect these.

To set up a person to be an organisation user, click on ‘Set access privileges for the organisation (all sites)’.

You will then be taken to a screen where you can add users or manage the access levels of existing users. You do not have to add all the users at this stage of the registration, as you will be able to do this when the registration is activated. The ‘Copy Team’ button allows you to copy any users that you have added to the organisation level team and the level of access selected. Once you have done this, a ‘Paste Team’ button will appear. If you have a second Companies House registration number for which you are creating a registration, you can go into the ‘Organisation Team Management’ screen for that registration and click ‘Paste Team’ to add the same users for both Companies House registration numbers. You can only copy and paste organisation teams at organisation level, not site level. The ‘Copy Team’ and ‘Paste Team’ buttons also appear for the ‘Site Team Management’ screen and the teams at site level can be copied and pasted to other sites within any Companies House registration number (whether for a site within the initial Companies House registration number or for any subsequent SPIRE registrations that you may be creating).

Additional users are added by selecting ‘Add Person’. You will then be asked to enter their email address and name (again check the details that you add carefully). Then click on ‘Add Person’. You can then enter the required access level for that user. If you see a symbol next to the users name and hover over the symbol, it will tell you that this person does not have a logon account for SPIRE.

Everyone who wants to use SPIRE must have an individual account. Once the registration has been activated, and provided the information entered into the registration matches that entered when the account was created, the user will have access to the company registration to the level allocated to them. The explanations for each of the levels of access are explained below and hints are also given on the screen by hovering over the symbol.

**Overview of SPIRE System Level Access**

- **Organisation administrator**

  - Any users with this level of access have full administration rights for an organisation (including all sites).
  - They will be able to add, edit and delete users from the organisation registration, and from all sites associated with it.
  - They are able to submit, prepare and view applications (and also be a contact on an application).
  - They will also be able to amend details within the registration. It is envisaged that the person with overall responsibility for export controls within a company should be an organisation administrator.
  - We recommend that there are at least 2 organisation administrators per registration so that a company retains a level of flexibility when amending the registration details.

- **Application submitter**

  - Any users with this level of access will be able to prepare and submit applications. They will not be able to amend details within the registration and will not be able to add, edit or delete users from the registration.

- **Application preparer**

  - Any users with this level of access will be able to prepare applications, but will not be able to submit them. In order for an application to be submitted, a user with that level of access will have to logon to SPIRE, resume the draft application and can submit the application. It is envisaged that a company would make use of this level if they wanted all applications to be approved by a certain person or team before submission but were happy with others completing most of the application preparation.

- **Application viewer**

  - A user with this level of access can view applications for the organisation/site. This level of access may be useful to those involved with export controls who want overview of the export licensing activities of the company but who don’t need the more hands on access that a preparer or submitted has. Note: This person will still be able to prepare and submit applications for themselves, other organisations who are not registered on SPIRE or organisations who have set them up as users on their SPIRE registration with the appropriate levels of access.

- **Application contact**

  - This level of access can be assigned to any users who need to be added to the application form as a point of contact to answer specific questions (for example, an engineer or technical contact) but who wouldn’t be involved in export licensing beyond this.

Wherever you set a tick in the row, you automatically give that user access to all the options to the right of the tick. For example, if a tick is placed against a user in the ‘Application Submitter’ column, they will be able to submit, prepare and view applications. If you place the tick against a user in the ‘Application Viewer’ column, they will only be able to view applications but will not be able to prepare or submit applications. However it is recommended that you select any options that you require for all users so that the levels of access are clear. Contact is a separate role and needs to be ticked for all users requiring that type of access.

- You can add as many people as you want as organisation level users and can give any of these users whichever access you deem to be appropriate. Remember they will be able to perform the function you have allocated for all sites within your organisation.

- Should you wish to remove a user at any time (for example if someone leaves the organisation), click on the recycle bin symbol under the users name and they will be removed. A pop-up will appear asking you if you are sure to prevent inadvertent deletions. This will not delete the users account, but will prevent them from accessing your SPIRE registration and related applications (again based on the level of access permitted for that user).

- Once you have set up the organisation users, you should click on ‘Save Contacts’ and you will go back to the User Access screen. You will now be able to set up the site level users.

- Click on ‘Setup Site Privileges’. The options on this screen are very similar to those found on the organisation users screen. You can add as many users as you want to and again you can give each user a suitable level of access. The SPIRE Site Administrators are the equivalent of the Organisation Administrators described above but they only have the access rights to add, edit or delete users for the site (but not for the organisation or for other sites, unless they have administrator rights for these). They won’t be able to change most of the details of the site, this would fall to the Organisation Administrator. Again we recommend that there are at least two Spire Site Administrators per site to retain flexibility for amending details of users at a local level. The final part of step 3 is the security level. The answers to the two questions indicate whether you want anyone to be able to prepare and submit an application on behalf of your company or only those users that have been nominated on SPIRE. For each question, you have one of two options to choose from – either ‘Only people in the list above’ or ‘Anyone’.

- If you select ‘Only people in the list above’, you are ensuring no-one else can make an application in the name of your company and also ensuring that only those users that have been nominated on SPIRE can be involved in the export licensing process (to whatever access level you have determined). You are effectively protecting your organisation and ensuring the security of your interactions with ECO.

- You may decide however, that you need to allow the flexibility for anyone to apply for licences on behalf of your company. If this is the case, you should answer ‘Anyone’ to this question. We would recommend against choosing this answer in all instances. If you need increased flexibility, ensure that you have sufficient sites and users set-up to allow for any unforeseen circumstances to be dealt with and the required licences applied for.

Once you have answered these questions, click on ‘Next’.

NOTE: Completing both questions is mandatory. If you fail to answer the questions before moving to the next screen you will receive an error prompt before you can more forward.

Tab 4 is the last part of the registration process when you can submit the registration. Here we will ask you to upload the company registration documents (for example a Companies House Registration Certificate). You should scan this document in (if possible) and upload it by clicking on ‘Choose File’. You will then be taken to a window where you can browse for the document and choose to upload it. If this has been successful, you will see a green tick (too large to replicate here). (If you see a large red cross, the file has not been uploaded properly and you should try again.) Close that window and details of the file will appear in the ‘Upload Registration Documents’ table shown above. You can choose to replace this file if the wrong document has been added, either delete the file, or click on ‘Replace File’ to choose another document.

This is not a mandatory requirement but it may speed up the registration process if there are relevant documents that you think we should see.

Whether you have uploaded any documents or not, you then need to click ‘Submit’ (provided you are happy with all of the details you have included in the registration). 5. What happens next

- Once you have submitted the registration via SPIRE, ECO will then send a letter (posted in hard copy) to the Authorised Company Executive (e.g., Company Secretary), as nominated in the Companies House registration, at the Companies House Registered address.

  - This letter will ask the company secretary to sign a declaration stating that the user that has set up the account is authorised to do so by the company, that they are further authorised to nominate additional users within the registration and at the required access levels.
  - They will also be declaring that that initial user is responsible for the overall accuracy of applications made under SPIRE (including those prepared or submitted by other users).
  - It is therefore imperative that companies nominate a company representative who has that level of authority and can take responsibility of the SPIRE registration in this way.
  - The declaration will then need to be sent in hard copy (with an original signature) back to ECO at the following address: Licence Reception, Export Control Organisation, Floor 3, 1 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0ET

- The name of the user will be noted in a schedule to the letter so that the Company Secretary (or equivalent) can contact that individual with any questions that they may have. We advise that the user setting up the registration on SPIRE should contact the Company Secretary (or equivalent) once they have submitted the registration to warn them that a letter is on its way and that it is very important that it is signed and returned as soon as possible so that the registration can be activated.

- We will not be able to activate the SPIRE registration without a hard copy of the declaration signed by the Company Secretary (or equivalent). It has proved necessary to include this step in the process to protect companies against fraudulent registrations being made using their Companies House registration details which are available to the public.

- Once the hard copy declaration has been received by us, and providing we are content, we will activate the registration. Once this is done, an e-mail will be sent to the user who set up the registration indicating that they should go to their workbasket. If you then select the ‘Manage Registrations’ option in the left hand banner (as before), you will see your registration and the 3rd column along indicated the registration status which should say ‘Approved’.

- If you need to add additional sites or users, you can do this by selecting the ‘Update’ option in the actions column of the relevant registration.

6. Company scenarios

- **Company set-up 1**

  1 Companies House Registration number 1 Site – same as registered address

  The person within the company with lead responsibility for export control should register on SPIRE and then set up the company with the CH reg no and the one site listed. There can be as many users (at whatever level is required) as the company would like. As there is only one site, the users can be set up at organisation level or at site level.

  If there is only one person who applies for licences, they will be the organisation administrator. However, we advise that another individual within the company is also given this level of access so that they can use SPIRE and set up other users should the main contact leave the company or not be available for whatever reason.

  If there is a chance that additional sites will be added to the company at some point in the future, it is advisable that the users are set up at the site level so that the new site can be set up separately from the organisation at that time.

- **Company set-up 2**

  1 Companies House Registration number 1 Site – different to registered address

  This is done in exactly the same way as ‘Company set-up 1’ except different address details are entered in Part 2 to reflect the fact that the site is not at the same address as the registered company.

- **Company set-up 3**

  1 Companies House Registration number 1 or more sites

  The person within the company with lead responsibility for export control should register on SPIRE and then set up the company with the Companies House registration number and any or all of the sites using that number. It is recommended that all sites are added even if no exports are currently undertaken from some sites. This will give you the flexibility to export from such sites should the need arise. There can be as many users (at whatever level is required) as the company would like for the organisation and per site.

  It should be decided which users need to be set up at an organisation level. These users will have access to all sites at whatever level of access is permitted. Therefore, if a user has submitter access at an organisation level, they will have that access for all sites. At least one administrator should be set up at the organisation level. This is to ensure continuity of access to the registration.

It is not necessary to add all sites and users when the initial registration is made. Once the registration has been activated, the organisation administrator can add the sites themselves or can set up another organisation administration (or more) to add the sites. It should then be decided which users need to be set up for each site. Once an administrator has been added for each site, authority can be delegated to that person to set up other users for the site or the organisation administrators can set up the users themselves. It is entirely up to each individual company to determine how the sites and users are set up and by whom.

- **Company set-up 4**

More than 1 Companies House registration number 1 or more sites

Each separate Companies House registration number will need a separate registration on SPIRE. Each registration should follow the instructions above depending on the set-up of the company in question.

If a user is set up as a submitter for an organisation or site for more than 1 Companies House registration number, they will be able to submit applications for all the organisations or sites from the one SPIRE logon. They will not have to have a different logon for each registration.

- **Company set-up 5**

1 Companies House registration number Several business units involved in different activities

In this scenario, it may be difficult to nominate someone with overall responsibility for export controls within the company if each business unit takes responsibility for their business unit but has nothing to do with the others in the company. Once the registration has been activated, each business unit would be set up as a site and the SPIRE site administrator would set up their users independently of the other business units. Therefore a decision would need to be taken regarding who should set up the registration in the first place. It will be down to the company to make this decision. It would then be recommended that this person be the organisation administrator.

If, however, this user is directly involved with one of the business units, it could be prudent to add a user from each of the other business units as organisation administrators to ensure all have an equal standing within the registration. Once the registration is set up, it could be decided that the company secretary (or equivalent), becomes the organisation administrator on the understanding that each business unit is responsible for their own site administration.

- **Consultants (or equivalent)**

If a consultant is engaged to submit licence applications on behalf of a company, they can register as per one of the company set-ups described above. However, the letter that we send out will still go to the Company Secretary of the company nominated in the registration.

If a consultant is a user in the registration of multiple companies, they will be able to see details (dependent on level of user access) of all applications for all those companies from the one SPIRE logon.

Export Control Organisation Last Updated: March 2010